Over on The Daily Show, Ronny Chieng tackled the so-called meme war from both directions. He mocked Democrats for their weak responses, including a "Kitty Explains" meme blaming the GOP for the shutdown. “Wow, that was also not good,” he said. “Still better than whatever Batman villain Chuck Schumer is turning into.”

House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) on CNN discussed President Donald Trump's behavior and negotiations to end the government shutdown: JAKE TAPPER, CNN, ANCHOR: And we're back with our “Politics Lead.” The government shutdown, the spending talks stalemate here on Capitol...

One Trump-aligned profile superimposed the faces of the Jeffries, Schumer and Democrat Senator Corey Booker into a video of the Three Amigos, while another “America First” meme creator redesigned a video of Kamala Harris sporting a mustache, sombrero and tequila.

President Trump posts AI-generated deepfake videos showing Hakeem Jeffries in a sombrero. Jeffries calls the videos “racist,” while VP JD Vance dismisses them as “funny,” sparking political controversy amid shutdown negotiations.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy used a humorous "FAFO" graph video to criticize Democrats holding out for Obamacare tax credits in the spending deal amid the government shutdown.

Trump shared multiple posts of AI-generated content that shows House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) wearing a sombrero and a fake mustache alongside Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). In one of the videos, a fabricated voice of Schumer said Democrats “have no voters anymore, because of our woke, trans bulls---.”

Thursday on the RealClearPolitics podcast, Andrew Walworth, Carl Cannon, and Tom Bevan discussed the political battle lines forming over the ongoing government shutdown and how "meme culture" is impacting political discourse.

Gavin Newsom’s office wrote, “The federal government is promoting far-right white supremacist memes online. DISGUSTING!”

JD Vance dismisses racism claims over Trump's AI-generated video showing Hakeem Jeffries in sombrero, promises to stop memes if Democrats help reopen government.